Mike Yeager, BHP Billiton’s energetic head of petroleum, is known in the
industry for having already crammed in several lifetimes of jet-setting.

During his career, which includes five years as a US Marine and several
decades as an executive at various oil companies, the high-flying Texan has
lived in more than 20 countries, from Angola to Trinidad to the United Arab
Emirates.

Now residing back in Houston, Mr Yeager has revealed that his upbringing was a
little less cosmopolitan. On a typical Saturday night in rural Texas, he
says, “we would get an ice-cream cone and go walk around Wal-Mart